PaulJ
12-23-2008, 03:45 PM
Hi,
for those that missed this I'd like to put a link here to Civil War Historian's recent Peter Tait article by AC member Dave Burt as it's in the public domain as a sample article:-
http://www.civilwarhistorian.com/pdf/Tait%204-5.pdf
As well as the history of Peter Tait the man, there is information regarding the the uniforms themselves I was unaware of (not that I'm an expert....) such as not all surviving jackets have the hook and eye at the collar and most surprisingly that the Gouge piped jacket has an RD style horizontal pocket instead of the usual vertical pocket.
This - along with the variety of trim styles in such a small sample of jackets (piped, faced, with/ without epaulettes) means you can't help but wonder as to the possibility of different manufacturing sources. In John E Waite's book (Peter Tait: A remarkable story) I believe he says that unless a Tait type jacket has Tait marked buttons period-affixed then you can't be sure that it's Tait manufactured (note that Chas Child's refers to his jacket as 'Tait style') - i.e John Waite is inferring a style of jacket produced for the Confederacy (as Dave B says - closely based on a cut down version of the then current British Army tunic) but not all by Peter Tait.
If you haven't already read it - enjoy. Interested in other's feedback.
Best regards.
for those that missed this I'd like to put a link here to Civil War Historian's recent Peter Tait article by AC member Dave Burt as it's in the public domain as a sample article:-
http://www.civilwarhistorian.com/pdf/Tait%204-5.pdf
As well as the history of Peter Tait the man, there is information regarding the the uniforms themselves I was unaware of (not that I'm an expert....) such as not all surviving jackets have the hook and eye at the collar and most surprisingly that the Gouge piped jacket has an RD style horizontal pocket instead of the usual vertical pocket.
This - along with the variety of trim styles in such a small sample of jackets (piped, faced, with/ without epaulettes) means you can't help but wonder as to the possibility of different manufacturing sources. In John E Waite's book (Peter Tait: A remarkable story) I believe he says that unless a Tait type jacket has Tait marked buttons period-affixed then you can't be sure that it's Tait manufactured (note that Chas Child's refers to his jacket as 'Tait style') - i.e John Waite is inferring a style of jacket produced for the Confederacy (as Dave B says - closely based on a cut down version of the then current British Army tunic) but not all by Peter Tait.
If you haven't already read it - enjoy. Interested in other's feedback.
Best regards.